News to Know

Almost two centuries ago, Jethro Tull used his new horse-drawn seed drill to individually plant seeds, replacing the traditional broadcast method. An early form of precision agriculture, his ingenious tool dramatically increased yield and led to an agricultural revolution.

The message to the Crisis Text Line was answered by Aaron Amrich, a volunteer crisis counselor based in California. It was sent by a 19-year-old woman who wrote that she was feeling hopeless and beginning to give up on life. Amrich, a veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, has himself suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. He understood the feeling.

Most teenagers say they’re confident about what they post on social media. About 79 percent of those polled in an online study released Thursday by Ask.fm and YouGov reported that they “rarely say things online they regret." But teens are also embracing anonymity.

Social media can be dangerous if used destructively.
Over half of parents are very concerned about how much time teens spend scrolling through their social feeds, according to a study just conducted by the social Q&A platform Ask.fm that assessed the evolving social-media behavior of the younger generation.

For many tweens heading into middle school, the transition from elementary school won't only be marked by new teachers, class schedules and locker assignments, but also by a gleaming new phone — or at least a hand-me-down after dad's recent upgrade.